substitute

American  

[suhb-sti-toot, -tyoot] / ˈsʌb stɪˌtut, -ˌtjut /

noun

• substitutes
  plural

1. a person or thing acting or serving in place of another.

   Synonyms:

   equivalent, replacement, alternative

2. (formerly) a person who, for payment, served in an army or navy in the place of a conscript.

3. Grammar. a word that functions as a replacement for any member of a class of words or constructions, as do in He doesn't know but I do.

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verb (used with object)

• substitutes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• substituted,
  past participle,  past
• substituting
  present participle

1. to put (a person or thing) in the place of another.

2. to take the place of; replace.

3. Chemistry. to replace (one or more elements or groups in a compound) by other elements or groups.

verb (used without object)

• substitutes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• substituted,
  past participle,  past
• substituting
  present participle

1. to act as a substitute.

adjective

1. of or relating to a substitute or substitutes.

2. composed of substitutes.

substitute British  

/ ˈsʌbstɪˌtjuːt /

verb

1. (often foll by for) to serve or cause to serve in place of another person or thing

2. chem to replace (an atom or group in a molecule) with (another atom or group)

3. logic maths to replace (one expression) by (another) in the context of a third, as replacing x + y for x in 3 x = k gives 3 x + 3 y = k

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noun

1. 1. a person or thing that serves in place of another, such as a player in a game who takes the place of an injured colleague

   2. Often shortened to: sub. ( as modifier )

      a substitute goalkeeper

2. grammar another name for pro-form

3. another name for supply teacher

4. nautical another word for repeater

5. (formerly) a person paid to replace another due for military service

Usage

What does substitute mean? A substitute is someone or something that takes the place of another person or thing. As a verb, to substitute means to make such a switch. Substitute is used in a variety of contexts, but it is perhaps most commonly associated with substitute teachers and players in team sports who replace a player in the game. In both cases, the word is often shortened as sub. Example: Mr. Jones was sick today so we had a substitute.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• intersubstitutability
  noun
• intersubstitution
  noun
• nonsubstitution
  noun
• presubstitution
  noun
• substitutability
  noun
• substituter
  noun
• substitution
  noun
• presubstitute
  verb (used with object)
• intersubstitutable
  adjective
• nonsubstituted
  adjective
• nonsubstitutional
  adjective
• nonsubstitutionary
  adjective
• prosubstitution
  adjective
• substitutable
  adjective
• substitutional
  adjective
• substitutionary
  adjective
• unsubstituted
  adjective
• nonsubstitutionally
  adverb
• substitutingly
  adverb
• substitutionally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• substitutes
  plural

Participles

• substituting
  present
• substituted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• substitute
  simple
• substitutes
  simple
• have substituted
  perfect
• has substituted
  perfect
• am substituting
  progressive
• are substituting
  progressive
• is substituting
  progressive
• have been substituting
  perfect progressive
• has been substituting
  perfect progressive

Past

• substituted
  simple
• had substituted
  perfect
• was substituting
  progressive
• were substituting
  progressive
• had been substituting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will substitute
  simple
• will have substituted
  perfect
• will be substituting
  progressive
• will have been substituting
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of substitute

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin substitūtus “replaced,” past participle of substituere “to put in place of,” from sub- sub- + -stituere, combining form of statuere “to set up, erect” ( see substituent)

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Explanation

Something or someone that takes the place of another is said to be a substitute. You may be sent into a game as a substitute for an injured player, or you might substitute chocolate chips for blueberries in a pancake recipe. Substitute can be used as an adjective to describe something or someone that takes the place of another. Teenagers are notoriously hard on substitute teachers, sometimes giving them fake names or wrong information about classroom work. Substitute can also be used as a verb. So if you are asked to substitute for a teacher, you probably shouldn't believe everything the students tell you!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

substitute substitutes substituted substituting

Flo scored 34% of his 38 Premier League goals as a substitute - the eighth-highest ratio for those with 20 top-flight goals or more, while he is also joint-eighth overall for goals from a substitute.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

That meant Germany could not simply substitute graphite for heavy water to overcome its supply problems.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

The ministry last week promised 3,000 substitute teachers for the country's 114 worst-affected secondary schools, and said on Wednesday it had already dispatched 2,000.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

Giroud honed his ability to make a late impact at Arsenal and Chelsea, making 103 substitute appearances in total across 10 seasons in the Premier League.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

“I leave an excellent substitute in my daughter. Emma will be happy to entertain you. And therefore I think I will beg your excuse and take my three turns—my winter walk.”

From "Emma" by Jane Austen

Those savings are not small potatoes: The skin substitutes cost taxpayers billions, and the figure has risen dramatically since before the pandemic.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026

Non-nutritive sweeteners are low-calorie or calorie-free sugar substitutes commonly used in foods and beverages.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 4, 2026

“Even in spite of these efforts, many lower-income households now have rising credit-card and consumer-debt balances. It’s hard to find substitutes for necessities like housing,” Smith said.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026

But with some of these higher-protein, higher-fiber options, I’m using substitutes like protein pasta or bone broth rice to keep eating the things I want to eat while being a little more macro-conscious.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026

Instead they were usually relegated to indoor rowing tanks, poor substitutes for the real thing.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown

Ronaldo started that game but was substituted in the 67th minute.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

They also substituted bamboo biochar for cement at concentrations of 0.5%, 1%, and 1.5%.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026

The relationship between the Cameroon international and Lyon's ultras fractured further when he stormed down the tunnel and kicked a rubbish bin in frustration after being substituted during a 2-1 home defeat by Strasbourg.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026

And if one definition fails to make the point, another can be substituted.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

“One of these, substituted for a regular meal,” C.C. said.

From "The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan

In fact, substituting toys for all hazards and unwanted behaviors are excellent protective measures.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

“Nostalgia is basically substituting what you feel now for what actually happened then, right? I have no nostalgia for childhood summers because nothing happened.”

From Salon ● Jun. 24, 2026

In the criminal justice system, jurors are entitled to acquit defendants by deliberately rejecting evidence or refusing to apply the law, often by substituting their own sense of fairness—a concept known as jury nullification.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026

Back in 2005, when Roberts rhapsodized about Indiana farmland and an endless horizon punctuated only by silos and barns, he was substituting a humble, real-life Midwest upbringing for his own.

From Slate ● May 7, 2026

Categories, functions, and meanings have to be ascertained empirically, by running little experiments such as substituting a phrase whose category you don’t know for one you do know and seeing whether the sentence still works.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

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Related Words

• backup
• replacement
• stand-in
• surrogate

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